Very good point! Also, looks like they have been practicing some pistol formations as well. I see Helu and Royster having some big games as well. With our OL being undersized but athletic, I think the option plays and some of these shotgun/pistol formations will play to our advantage.

Yes, it should be handled like Peyton Manning in Indy...get the ball out of his hands before anyone can touch him.

Griff is already a master at screen passes. Moss has always turned those into big plays too. Helu is a pass-catching back.

It just makes sense.

Make every drive a 15-play, 80-yard drive. Sure, we might only get 5 yards a play when not busting long gains, but the D won't be able to force us into a 4th down. TD every time.

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Very good point! Also, looks like they have been practicing some pistol formations as well. I see Helu and Royster having some big games as well. With our OL being undersized but athletic, I think the option plays and some of these shotgun/pistol formations will play to our advantage.

Good insight. I'm looking forward to seeing the pistol in action. We might have an offense this year which is fun to watch.

To all: How do you feel about RGIII running the option, QB draws, and other designed running plays?

Frankly, I don't like the idea of making him a runner at all. As an NFL QB, He's going to take enough hits in the passing game.

I have no problem with his rolling out with a run or pass option, particulary in the Red Zone. An occaisional QB draw by RGIII, in the right situation, should be very effective. The Skins should take advantage of his speed in those types of plays.

But, if they use him as an option QB, he's going to take some big hits whether he pitches the ball or keeps it. I think that use of RGIII's skills would be far too risky to his health. If training camp practices are an indicator of what they want to do with RGIII in the running game, I'm hoping that the Shanahans come to their senses and drop the idea of using him to run the option offense.

To me, the primary benefit of a mobile QB is that he can extend plays or turn broken plays into positive yardage.

Right now we're going to have to use him on this type of stuff. Do you expect him to sit back in the pocket and consistently move the chains as a rookie? I don't. Not right now. As his career moves along, and if/when he gets the pocket game down, then I'm sure they'll scale it back on the option stuff.

Right now we're going to have to use him on this type of stuff. Do you expect him to sit back in the pocket and consistently move the chains as a rookie? I don't. Not right now. As his career moves along, and if/when he gets the pocket game down, then I'm sure they'll scale it back on the option stuff.

He won't always be in the pocket. As I wrote, I have no problem with rolling him out with his having the option to run or running the occaisional QB draw. So, yes, use his speed and running talent judiciously.

But running option plays is an invitation to injury for RGIII. You should know why. It's because, to defense the option offense, one defensive player is assigned to tackle the QB. The QB is not an uncovered player when running the option. He's going to get hit when he runs the option - and hit hard.

The idea that the Redskins D quickly caught on to stopping the option in practice but other team's defenses won't because they don't see it as often is a bunch of baloney. Defenses are going to be looking for RGIII to run option plays and, when they see it, they are going to knock the crap out of the relatively small - not huge like Cam Newton or Tim Tebow - RGIII.

How many times does RGIII have to get hit to be injured? The correct answer is once. That being the case, I don't see the wisdom in exposing him to unecessary hits.

3. Coach Mike Shanahan is going to incorporate plays that suit his new athletic quarterback.
During both practices, there was a strong emphasis on designed quarterback runs. Normally at an NFL practice, a designed quarterback run consists of either a QB draw or a QB sneak. That wasn't the case here. There were zone-read plays (where the QB reads the defensive end and elects to hand off the ball or keep it depending on the action of the defender), speed-option plays and quarterback sweeps throughout the day. They even spent some time lining up in the pistol formation. Several of these plays and formations were almost identical to the Baylor offense. Shanahan's offense has always incorporated a moving pocket in the passing game, but this is a new brand of football exclusively tailored to Griffin's strengths.

Just caught D.Hall on NFL network. Boy did he sound excited about the defense and brimming with confidence. I really sense a level a maturity with him this year. He was gushing with praise about RG3..and oddly, Jim Haslett. He made it a point to say two years ago the defense was ranked 31, last year they were 13, an he expects it get better.

He also gave big props to Rak and Kerrigan. He was going on and on about how awesome Kerrigan is.